Disclaimer: I don't own anything I shouldn't - if I did, S5 of Miami would have been much better. Please don't sue.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I think you'll agree that it's worth it. As always, a big shout out to my betas for nagging etc.

Warnings: Language


Chapter 8:

Rumour Mill

Frank blew out of the elevator and zeroed in on Paula like a heat seeking missile. In a curt voice he asked "Where's Calleigh?"

Where's Calleigh, where's Horatio, where's Marlowe; jeez, what did they think she was, the CIA? Paula thought in exasperation, peering up at the beefy detective from behind her computer screen.

"She's in Interview room two with Special Agent Gideon and Special Agent Morgan, Detective." She replied in an 'I-thought-you-already-knew-that' tone of voice. "They've been in there for over two hours."

"Thanks." He growled offhandedly, heading towards the room in question at a brisk pace. Wolfe and Cooper were coming towards him from the opposite direction. Wolfe had a file folder in his hand and was speaking in a low voice to the other man.

"So I'd really appreciate it if you'd keep your little theories on the boss's private life to yourself okay? Because spreading that kind of stuff around the lab just isn't cool." Ryan gave Cooper a pointed stare, and Tripp saw the young AV tech wince. "Someone always ends up getting hurt."

"Yeah, sure; what was I thinking?" Cooper nodded briskly, his face flushed. "Listen, if you hear anything else – it didn't come from me. We cool?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "We're cool."

"Sweet!" Cooper's face was a study in relief. He clapped Ryan on the shoulder. "I've got plenty more surveillance tape to watch if you run out of things to do. Later, Wolfeman."

"I'm gonna kill Marlowe for giving me that nickname." Ryan muttered in a resigned voice as he watched Cooper head back to the AV lab.

"Take a number, she calls me Tex." Frank replied, drawing even with the younger man. He raised an eyebrow. "Cooper's mouth operating independently of his brain again?"

"You could say that; trust me, you wouldn't be interested."

Oh wouldn't he? Frank thought sourly, willing to bet a week's pay that he knew exactly whose love life Cooper was speculating about and where he got his information from; but he wasn't about to share that bet with Ryan Wolfe. Instead he shrugged casually. "Whatever, what's in the file Wolfe?"

"DNA results from the Kayla Chambers case." Ryan replied with a faint smile. "We've got the SOB; I was just on my way to Firearms to give the good news to Calleigh, since Horatio's still in the wind."

Big fucking surprise. Frank shook his head. "She's not there, but I know where she is; I'll save you a trip."

"Thanks Frank," Ryan handed him the folder with a concerned look. "What's up? You look ready to shoot someone."

"Starting with Andrews' lawyer," Frank groused, rubbing his free hand over the top of his head. "I just heard from the State's Attorney; the defence is laying the groundwork for an insanity defence."

"You think?" Ryan asked bitterly. He gestured to the folder in Frank's hand. "At least something turned out well."

"Yeah," Frank nodded. "Thanks Wolfe."

"No problem. See you later."

Frank watched the young CSI walk away towards the elevators, and then continued walking towards interview room two, tapping the folder against the side of his leg. When he got there, he opened the door without knocking.

Anger simmering below the surface, he asked "Calleigh, got a minute?"

"Come on in Frank," Calleigh winced inwardly at the shortness in his tone, but gave the detective a dazzling smile; determined to be every inch the gracious Southern hostess. She gestured to Gideon and Morgan, who were both watching Tripp with assessing expressions. "This is Special Agent Jason Gideon and Special Agent Derek Morgan of the BAU. Horatio called them in."

Frank studied the two men. Gideon looked like a college professor – right down to the reading glasses perched on his nose; with his casual clothes he was as opposite to Marlowe and her tailored suits as you could possibly get – until you looked into his eyes and saw the same watchfulness. For all his good looks, Morgan had the air of someone who'd been through the school of hard knocks and had gotten where he was by sheer grit and brains – like Horatio. Frank also had the suspicion that Morgan had the tendency to be a bit of a hothead. Great, just great.

"You guys work with Marlowe." Frank dropped the file folder on the table and went through the traditional round of handshaking and introductions. "Care to tell me where she's vanished to, or should I subscribe to the popular theory that she and Horatio are having an affair and have gone off grid for a little alone time?"

Calleigh felt the blood drain from her face. She looked at Gideon and Morgan; Gideon's expression was calm on the surface, but his eyes were narrowed on Frank like lasers. Morgan's leashed anger was filling the room like static, his knuckles showing white as he clenched his fists and then relaxed them.

Frank noted the two men's reaction with interest. He glanced at Calleigh; she was as white as a sheet and looked guilty as all hell. Frank sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He'd worked with Horatio for nearly six years, and yet when he thought about it, he knew very little about the man outside the job. Who knew what really went on in that guy's head; Marisol had been dead for a year, and a man would have to be in a coma not to notice Marlowe, there were collective cases of whiplash and jaws on the floor when she walked by.

"Who told you that Frank?" Calleigh asked in a low voice.

"Jake Berkeley." Frank replied with distaste. He glanced at Gideon. "Berkeley used to be undercover ATF; when his cover was blown he transferred to Homicide. A few months back a guy named Nick Townsend was killed; he was the ex-husband of Natalia Boa Vista, one of our CSIs – long story short, Berkeley was assigned to the case to avoid a conflict of interest."

"And this is important how?" Morgan asked in a tight voice.

Frank took a breath to continue but Calleigh stopped him, placing a hand on his arm. Her voice was level, but the three men could sense the anger seething beneath the surface.

"Natalia became a suspect; DNA recovered at the scene placed her in Nick's apartment and Nick had a history of abusive behaviour towards her – it was the reason she divorced him." Calleigh sighed. "Jake was convinced Natalia was guilty; except that she wasn't. During the course of a separate investigation Horatio discovered a crucial link to the Townsend case that Jake had overlooked; a link that led to an alternate suspect and exonerated Natalia."

"And Berkeley feels that Caine made him look like a fool by pointing out the oversight; classic deflecting behaviour." Gideon murmured. "What exactly did Berkeley say about Agent Marlowe Detective? We already know what happened in the lockup."

"Berkeley said that because Horatio didn't throw her in a holding cell for making him see stars, she must be sleeping with him."

"And what else?" Gideon prompted.

"He repeated some lame-ass rumour he'd heard back at ATF; that she'd gone one too many rounds with the whack-jobs and that she'd slept with her boss. Personally I think he's full of it; he and Horatio have had a cordial loathing society going since he got here, it's no secret." Frank looked into Gideon's eyes. "But I think you should know that the rumour's spread to the lab; I just overheard Wolfe lecturing Cooper about speculating on office romances. And Berkeley made some noise about involving IAB."

Morgan's cursing blistered the air as he paced the room. Gideon remained silent, his brain working at triple speed processing this latest piece of information.

"He said that he'd tell Stetler?" Calleigh was incredulous. "He actually told you that in so many words?"

"Right down to the last syllable, I had a little talk with him about how that would be a very bad idea; and I think some of it stuck, but with Berkeley you can never tell." Frank said, shaking his head. He looked at Calleigh. "Calleigh, I know you have history with this guy …"

"Don't worry Frank; I have no personal feelings where crap like this is concerned. I can not believe that he'd pull something like this." Calleigh's eyes narrowed in anger. Oh yeah, she had history with Jake all right; just when she thought he was turning over a new leaf, he'd gave her another reminder why they broke up. Just wait until she got her hands on him.

She caught sight of the folder, sitting neglected on the table. "You got something for me Frank?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Frank mentally smacked himself upside the head and passed the folder to Calleigh. "Wolfe asked me to give this to you. It's the DNA results in the Chambers case. Andrews is a match."

"I knew there was a reason I woke up this morning," Calleigh grinned as she opened the file and began to read. Her eyes widened. "Oh my Lord …!"

"What is it?" Gideon asked.

"Andrews is a match all right; not just to Kayla's SAE kit, but to the other four rapes that he was suspected of." Calleigh took a deep breath and read the results a second time, just to be sure. She looked at all three men. "But that's just the start; Natalia ran a search through NCIC and cold cases state-wide…"

"Didn't she come up zip on that way back when?" Frank asked, puzzled.

"Not entirely, there were several possibles, but nothing concrete. But that was before we had a DNA sample that we could run through CODIS." Calleigh replied. "Natalia and Valera just ran another search; they got hits off of three unsolveds in Saint Augustine."

Gideon gestured to Calleigh to hand him the file, she slid it across the table. He opened it and skimmed it quickly. "I remember these cases; they asked us for an assessment earlier this year."

"I remember - they didn't make the cut." Morgan said. "But J.J. should still have the request on file in the system somewhere."

"One would hope. Call Hotch, tell him the scope of this thing just got bigger." Gideon murmured, closing the file. He looked at Frank. "Detective, I think you should know a few things."


BAU Headquarters: Quantico, VA.

"Listen up people, we have an unusual situation." Hotchner said, waiting for Prentiss, Reid and Garcia to settle around the conference table; when the noise died away he took a seat and said "J.J., you have the floor."

J.J. nodded; she stood to the right of the large plasma screen that dominated one end of the room, a folder in one hand and a remote in the other. She pressed a button on the remote and the screen came to life, displaying a series of photos.

"Four months ago we received a request for assessment from the Saint Augustine PD, three co-eds beaten and strangled within a two month period." J.J. paused and turned away from the screen. She tried to keep her face impassive and detached, but her voice shook slightly. "The request was declined due insufficient data."

"So what's changed?" Prentiss asked, slouching in her chair.

"I just got off the phone with Morgan," Hotchner leaned forward, folding his hands in front of him. "There's a DNA link to a suspect currently in custody in Miami."

"Somebody's been a busy bee." Garcia said, tapping a pencil with a neon haired troll for an eraser on the tabletop.

"Would you stop that?" Reid made a grab for the pencil and missed getting a smirk from Garcia, an eye-roll from Prentiss and stifled grin from J.J. – Hotchner just glowered. Flushing to the roots of his hair, he asked. "Does this have any connection with the case that Ross has been working on?"

"Yes," Hotchner replied. "The MDPD crime lab confirmed a positive DNA match between the Saint Augustine cases and the suspect in Miami."

"I'm still not seeing the point here," Prentiss said. "It's Marlowe's case, let her handle it."

"Two nights ago the Miami suspect attempted suicide." Hotchner's tone was grave as he allowed that information to sink in. He looked around the room; Garcia looked worried, Reid was frowning in deep thought, J.J. had that look that said she was thinking of how they could spin this to the media. Prentiss looked irritated; she and Marlowe rubbed each other the wrong way for some obscure reason that he'd never been able to pin down. After a brief pause he continued. "He's alive because only because Marlowe kept him from bleeding to death."

"Bet that scored a lot of points with the locals." Prentiss remarked sarcastically. Reid, Garcia and J.J. looked at her like she'd grown a second head. Hotchner raised a disapproving eyebrow at her tone. He didn't have time for this.

"Uh, Hotch; nobody's heard from Ross in over forty-eight hours. That is so not like her." Garcia said in worried voice, turning her pencil end over end so fast that the troll's head became a neon blur. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask the question that everyone's afraid to; has something happened to her?"

Everybody looked at Hotchner with worried faces.

"Yes Garcia, Marlowe was found unconscious later that night; first reports said it looked like attempted suicide – drug overdose." Hotchner's words fell like stones into the silence. "Apparently she's been an addict for some time."

"Ohmigod!" Garcia gasped.

"Is – is she okay?" Reid's voice jumped an octave.

"She was released from the hospital earlier today. Gideon hasn't had a chance to talk to her yet; but neither has the MDPD." Hotchner paused. "She would have been removed as the primary in any case; she's a material witness to the suspect's attempted suicide …"

"But now the entire profile is in question; along with every case she's ever worked." J.J. finished Hotchner's thought. She looked at him and asked. "What's the plan?"

Hotchner looked at her. "Reach out to the Saint Augustine PD; tell them there's been a development and to coordinate info with Detective Frank Tripp, CSI Calleigh Duquesne and Lieutenant Horatio Caine in Miami. We need everything they've got."

"I'm on it." J.J. was already on the phone as she left the room.

He turned to Reid and Prentiss. "I need both of you to start running a profile on the Saint Augustine cases and link them to the Miami cases; forget there's a suspect already in custody – start from square one. The Florida State's Attorney has been told to expect an insanity plea in the Miami cases; if that happens, and Marlowe's credibility is called into question we need to be ready to move if and when they file on Saint Augustine."

"Different jurisdiction, separate charges equals a whole new ballgame." Prentiss nodded in understanding.

"When do we leave?" Reid asked.

"You don't." Hotchner replied. "Gideon and Morgan will get whatever you need to Garcia and you'll do the work here. If the whole team shows up down there, it's a signal that something's gone wrong with the investigation and the media will be all over it."

"But you're going down there." Prentiss stated.

"It's a delicate situation; I'd be neglecting my responsibility as Unit Chief if I didn't go." Hotchner's tone indicated that the subject was not open for debate. "And I don't trust Gideon to play politics."

"No; really?" Reid said sardonically. "And he tries so hard to be nice."

"Come on Reid," Prentiss rose from her chair. "No trip to Disneyworld for us."

"I've never understood society's fascination with a talking mouse." Reid made a face and the two of them left the room.

"Hotch, I spoke with her that night, it must have been right before it happened." Garcia said in a shaky voice. "She sounded tired, but I never thought …. I guess nobody really knows anybody."

"Don't beat yourself up Garcia." Hotchner said in a calm voice. "We all dropped the ball on this one."